You Sew Girl!!!

Caddy so far

2011-01-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

I spent most of today continuing to work on my caddy. A lot of the time was spent doing the embroidery and figuring out how I wanted to construct the pockets. My embroidery machine was cranky today so I had to spend some time undoing and then redoing some portions of the designs. All in all, though, I think it's coming together pretty well. I took some quick pictures to post before I shut down for the night.

Here's the caddy cut out and the top pocket sewn on:

I managed to get one half of the bottom pocket embroidery finished. It's still in the hoop but I think this picture gives a much better idea of what the colors are like since they are a bit washed out in the top photo.

Word Up sewing party!

2011-01-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late getting started as I just got home from my Block Of the Month class that was scheduled for today. My project for the party is to design and finish a hanging caddy with pockets that I can put all the things that I need to complete my outfit for the day when I get dressed for work in the morning. I'm notorious for not being a morning person and trying to squeeze out the last possible z before I'm forced to get up. My routine pretty much consists of rolling out of bed and into the shower, getting dressed and going down the stairs and out the door where Eric's waiting. Since he drops me off on his way to work, I get to my office about 45 minutes before my workday actually begins, so I do have time to eat my breakfast and get my daily treat, a Starbucks coffee. In an effort to make this more streamlined, I've been putting out my outfit the night before and need something to hold my jewelry, tights, slip, etc. together with my clothes. Having a caddy with designated pockets will also insure that I have everything that I need and that I'm not forgetting something.

OK, while the fabric that I've just pulled from my stash is in the washer, I'll be drafting my pattern. I'm planning on embellishing my caddy with vintage butterfly embroidery in honor of my word "metamorphosis." I'll post some pictures as soon as my fabric is out of the washer and ready to go.

6:37 PM

OK, making progress! I got my fabric washed, ironed and already got the main piece quilted. I also spent some time noodling around with the pattern and embroidery placement and think I've got it down.

Here is the fabric. The body is a off-white tone on tone print and I am using the print to band the pocket tops and to bind the edges. It's hard to see the colors as the lighting isn't the best in my sewing room at this time of the day.

Here's my pattern laying on top of the quilted body with my embroidery templates. The lower right will have a mirror image of the left corner. There are two pockets that will be divided in the middle with the bottom one deeper for larger items.

Well, Eric just got back from Boston Market with dinner so I think this will be it for the day. I'll continue on tomorrow starting with the machine embroidery which takes a bit of time to do. I've learned to hard way that it's not something that I want to do when I'm tired. Thanks to all who have stopped by! After dinner I'll be going around and seeing what everyone else has been up to today!

Word Up!

2011-01-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I’ve been very busy with redecorating rooms in my house lately. LOL, no Christmas decorations this past December as the house was and is too ripped up. I took time off from work and did a lot of painting over the holidays and will be putting the last coat of paint on the trim in our den this Saturday. After that, we can begin putting it back together. I’ll be so glad to have our computer set up again just as soon as the new desk arrives (in hindsight, packing it away wasn’t the brightest idea but I didn’t expect it to be down as long as it has been.)

Now, on to my word for the Word Up. This year will be one of change- lots of them! We’ve been in our house for 17 years now and it’s time to freshen things up. It’s also time to pare down the stuff that we have and do a bit of decluttering. This will be a lot harder on the packrat in the house than me, LOL. And since I always consider myself to be a work in progress, I’m contemplating personal changes, too.

As I near 50, I find myself wanting to spend the rest of my working life doing something that I love, that I am passionate about, and that I excel at. This means exploring ways to transition myself from what I am doing now into something that involves doing what I love most which is sewing and creating. Back when I was in Junior High (the dark ages!), I took what were almost the last home ec classes to be offered and excelled in them. Sewing, however, was not considered to be a viable career option by then. I actually ended up majoring in Interior Design in college but soon realized after working in the field for a few years that it was the fabrics and creation of furnishings that I like best rather than working with clients designing interiors. In hindsight, I should have then gone on to a tech school and learned how to construct window treatments and soft furnishings like bedding. Learning how to upholster would have been a plus, too. However, these things just weren’t encouraged by my mother who had a decidedly negative view of that being any sort of career. And at the time, I didn’t have the gumption to buck that. So here I am at 48, having spent most of my life working but not doing anything that I have a passion for. And since I want to change that, the word that I intend to live by this year is: Metamorphosis

Secret Santa runner is finished- finally!

2010-12-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

OK, I was chugging along on this and was well on my way to having it done by the first of the month when I was hit by a series of nasty migraines. Because the first couple of weeks of December are a very busy time for me at work and I had to be there, I pretty much toughed it out and went to bed every night as soon as I got home. Needless to say, this really cut into my sewing time significantly. I'm feeling so much better this week and finally got the last of the quilting done. After burying tons of thread ends, I got the binding done Tuesday night. Just as I was ready to pack the runner up and get it on its way, I realized that I had forgotten to put a label on it so I'll do that and get it in the mail this weekend.

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The blocks in the center were plain, so I machine-embroidered the letters in them. Quilting was the hardest part mainly because I haven't done all that much in the past so my skills are still a little shaky. I hope that the recipient enjoys it as much as I did making it!

BTW, I'm going to try taking a better picture to post. This one was taken laid on the carpet with me standing on a stool over it and no matter how I tried, the edges always came out looking crooked. They really are straight!

Charming Girls November/December goals

2010-11-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Now that it's getting cooler, my sewing mojo is returning full force and I'm really looking forward to working on my projects that I've selected for my November/December goals.

First off is my secret santa which gets top priority since the deadline looms ever closer. After mulling over several possiblities, I've finally selected a runner pattern and have begun pulling fabrics out of my stash. I just love the green and red print and am happy to have a chance to finally use it. I still need a few more fabrics to round it out, a perfect excuse to drive to Harriet's and do a little shopping (heh, like I ever need an excuse to go there!)

Next up is the quilt that I started for my Dad back in June before life got a bit frantic. I'm sort of designing it as I go along and will be putting it together using the Cotton Theory method so that the quilting is done as it's assembled. Along with the log cabin blocks, I will be embroidering blocks with farm animals and buildings. Daddy grew up on a farm and is very much still a farm boy at heart. My uncle has a small farm and Daddy loves to visit there. By the time he leaves, the chickens are so spoiled because he's always giving them whatever a chicken considers a treat. I'm calling this quilt Farm Memories.

Ok, right now, this project doesn't look like much because it's still in the planning stages. I'm making this tote for a dear friend for Christmas and will be using the hand-dyed perle floss to do bobbinwork embroidery on the front panel using an iris design. She was with me when I spotted the floss at the Quilt-a-Fair and just loved it so at least I know that I'm on the right track color-wise! I'll be getting coordinating batik fabrics for the tote.

I made the same tote when I was at Camp Cotton last year. My version has an embroidered rose stitched with red floss in the bobbin.

Also on my list is to catch up on my American Beauty blocks that I am doing as part of a BOM at Harriet's. I missed a few classes and didn't get some of my blocks completely finished in others. The fabrics for this quilt are just gorgeous and when I first saw the line in the shop, it's not much of an exaggeration to say that my head just about exploded because they are so "me."

Rounding up the lot is the cover for my acrylic portable sewing table for my machine that I take with me to classes. It's another project that I'm creating as I go along and I really want to get it finished because I'm getting tired of shlepping my table around in a pillowcase, LOL.

Here's a close-up of the cute quilter's crest embroidery design that I found and couldn't resist adding to the front of the cover:

Ok, I think that's enough to keep me busy for a while!

Contrary to rumor, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth

2010-11-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe that the last time I posted was in April. A lot has happened in the meantime, including my parents having some serious health issues that had me making an unexpected trip to Tucson (in the sizzling heat of July!) at one point. Things have settled down pretty much but my dad has decided that he no longer wishes to spend much time with my mom (that's a story for another day) so he's up here frequently for three week stretches at a time. He stays with my sister or goes to visit his brother up in Ft. Collins and it's usually me who has to drive him back and forth as his hearing and eyesight are rather bad. I love my dad but this really was putting a crimp in my weekends (my only free time to really work on my projects or on the house) so we are currently working out the logistics to make things go a little smoother while he's up here. And that's how things are at the moment in my life.

On the fun side of things, Eric and I had a great time visiting Lincoln, Nebraska when we went in May for our niece's wedding. We stayed at Atwood House, a lovely B&B that is very romantic and was the ideal place to celebrate our anniversary which was also that weekend. Naturally, I had to sqeeze in a visit to a local quilt shop and hunted up the Quilted Kitty. Good thing I had some extra room in the suitcase to pack all the goodies that I found there! We also paid a visit to the International Quilt Study Center & Museum on the University of Nebraska campus and Eric surprised me by how much he enjoyed the exhibits that they had there. The wedding itself was beautiful and all in all, it was a terrific weekend.

In early August, my friend and I did the local shop hop, visiting the six participating shops that were spread around the metro area. We had a lot of fun and I managed to spend, spend, spend. Later that month we went to the quilt show in Loveland where the entries for the Hoffman challenge were on display. So many gorgeous things to look at and it's amazing how many different designs that people can come up with using the same fabric. I always find the show to be very inspirational. Then in September, my most favorite event of all took place: Quilt-A-Fair. Booth after booth of fabrics, patterns and notions from shops all around the state and others all under one roof. My pocketbook will never be the same!

Finally, October rolled around and I was more than ready to pack in the yard for another year but so far it has been hanging on because it has remained unseasonably warm. Here is a picture that I took today of my geraniums still blooming away. Last year at this time they had already been buried under snow.

Well, uncooperative weather or not, it's time to get back in my sewing room and create!

April finish

2010-04-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, only one measly block to show for this month! This Saturday Sampler block didn't go together easily since I had cut some of the flying geese pieces bigger by accident and it took me a long time to figure out what the problem was. Needless to say, my seam ripper saw a lot of action that night! I have three more blocks similar to this one to make but by the time I finished this one, I just wanted a break from doing them.

I've been in the spring cleaning and reorganizing mood lately so I've been spending time doing that rather than sewing.

First tote bag finished

2010-04-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

After staying up pretty late Saturday night, I did mange to work some more on my rose print bag Sunday afternoon and finished it tonight. Here it is:

I made this for my cousin's wife so I machine embroidered her initial on the tab:

One of the things that makes this tote so popular with the ladies that I give it to is that the sides are held in with magnetic snaps that open when more room is needed to stash stuff in the tote. This is what it looks like with the snaps open:

The bag is made out of decorator fabric that my aunt found left behind in a rental house that she and my uncle own. It's dated 1986 on the selvage so it's kind of vintage and it was made to co-ordinate with wallpaper. I really like it because the print has a hand-painted look to it. There was quite a bit of yardage so I'll probably be able to make some more bags out of it.

Tote party-I'm beat

2010-04-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's 1:15 am and I'm packing it in. After spending some time with Eric eating dinner and watching a little TV, I headed back up to work on my lining panels. Nothing major with these, just straight channel quilting which was a breeze after the fronts. I then spent the rest of the night until a few minutes ago getting the handle done for the rose print tote. This particular pattern has you sew a long tube about 120 inches long that you then pull cotton webbing through. While not the quickest thing to do, I normally don't have too many problems with it when using regular cotton fabric because my fasturn tubes make it a snap and the webbing pulls through relatively easily. Not this time, though. This fabric is heavy decorator fabric and was too thick stack all the way on the fasturn tube so I had to turn it the hard way which took forever and then the webbing didn't pull through all that easily. The guide kept pulling off the webbing and I had to pull it out and start all over again. I finally ended up using the tacking stitch on my machine to attach the guide (using the slots on it) to the webbing so it wouldn't come off and it really worked like a charm! I wish I had thought of that from the beginning. I also wrapped some tape around it so that the edges of the webbing tapered down to the guide which was narrower.

OK, I'm off to bed and will be back at it later today and hope to get at least the rose print bag done. I didn't think I'd get either one done Saturday but at least I've got all the time-consuming bits done which really helps. This isn't the quickest bag to make but really is a good one. My friends who've gotten one as a gift really like them and these will be gifts, too.

Tote party #3

2010-04-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Panel 2 is finished! I also cross-hatched this one but chose to do a more open 45 degree angle and used my serpentine stitch since the fabric design is so curvy. I'm really happy with the result! I took the time to mark out my lines which really helped because I could just put the pedal to the metal and guide the fabric through. The last line was a thrilling race to get to the end before the bobbin thread ran out. Heh, why is it that I think if I just sew faster, the bobbin won't run out on me?

Thanks for all the wonderful comments you all are leaving, they really keep me going!

Tote party #2

2010-04-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Oh geez, I can't believe that it's already past 2:30 and this is as far as I have gotten! I just finished the outside panel for my first tote. Because the background is so open, I chose to do a more dense diamond hatch to give it some visual interest. Unfortunately, that meant tons of lines to stitch one way and the other. On top of that, half way through, the lines started to bend so I had to rip out each one half way back and redo them. Arrgh! OK, on to my next panel!

Tote bag party!

2010-04-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

10:30 AM:

Getting a late start here! I am going to be working on two totes today, both from the same pattern. I've made the tote before, so that will help speed things up a little bit. Here are my fabrics:

OK, the first step is get the outside panels cut and quilted. This part takes the longest to do.

Quick project

2010-04-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

My co-worker is getting married this weekend in Las Vegas and we took up a collection for him in the office. I volunteered to create a holder for the money and spent this evening working on it. Here is the result:

This is the front side which I personalized with their wedding location and date, accented with doves.

The envelope back has a border using the same dove motif that is on the front.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well. There are a few things that I'd do differently the next time around but not bad for something right off the top of my head!

April projects

2010-04-07T19:18:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post for my April projects since it took way more time than I anticipated this evening to set up my new printer in my sewing room.

First up, my Saturday Sampler blocks for this month. This time it's trees with a lot of flying geese in those trunks! There will be four blocks all together as I will be making two of one particular block. I haven't done too many flying geese so this should be interesting.

Next up will be to get started on the Wedding Ring quilt. I'm shooting for finishing 10 full squares and 5 half squares a month for six months in order to make this more manageable. I have to piece a lot of these arcs together before I can applique them to the squares and this way I won't get too overwhelmed by it. Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to give this to our niece right away but I'd rather give her something that is well made than a hurry up job full of mistakes (and I'm really prone to them, too, when trying to do something too fast.)

Some new toys

2010-04-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I really enjoy doing aside from sewing is knitting. Most yarn that you buy in yarn shops comes in hanks that have to be wound into balls and usually that's not a problem as the shop is happy to wind the yarn for you. Not so long ago, I spotted a pattern for a lace stole in a yarn catalog that I really wanted to knit to wear to my niece's wedding in May. The only catch was that to get the pattern you had to buy the yarn as the pattern came with it. That was fine by me so I ordered and didn't give it another thought until the yarn arrived and I realized that it would have to be wound. Now, I really hate winding balls by hand and it would be really pushing it to go to my local shop and ask the proprietor to wind them for me seeing as how I didn't actually buy the yarn from her. I finally broke down and got myself a swift and ball winder. Tonight I set them up and put them to work:

The final result- a nice tidy yarn "cake" all ready to go in minutes:

Sweet!

March tag and finish

2010-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting post for me because it's the first time I'm using my laptop in my sewing room. We finally got our new desktop PC installed downstairs along with a wireless connection so that my computer would be functional upstairs. I'll finally be able to spend some time in the evenings visiting the Charming Guys and Girls blogs in peace and quiet without Eric's JAG DVD's blasting away nearby. It's kind of hard to think coherently when it sounds like an F-16 is landing next to you! It's kind of my fault, really, because I gave him all ten seasons worth of DVD's to begin with! The man just never gets tired of watching them either.

OK, the March tag was to post a joke. I don't know if this qualifies, but I just saw this the other day and, oh boy, is it ever the truth:

"One of the saddest things about getting older is the trail of smaller jeans you leave in your wake."

I tend to be more of a visual joke kind of person and LOLcats is one of my favorite sites to visit. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

This one because I deal with this response a lot at work-

These next two illustrate that my sense of humor can be kind of off-beat at times...

And last, but not least, here's one especially for Joan-

As for my finishes this month, I only managed one. I had just completed my Saturday Sampler block a few days before my father-in-law passed away and after that I simply didn't have time to work on my Wedding Ring blocks. Things are starting to get back to normal and I'll have more sewing time soon. Eric's been helping his mom quite a bit with stuff that needs to get done and she's coping remarkably well. Sometimes it doesn't seem real that his dad is gone and other days it's felt all too keenly.

This was the first time I've set a block on point and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Springtime in the Rockies

2010-03-23T21:13:00.001-07:00

Saturday was was the first day of Spring, my most favorite season. This is what my garden looked like early that morning:

A little later, the clouds had cleared away, the sky was blue, and the cheery little crocus were once again brightening up the yard:

Alas, tonight they are buried under snow- again. I think Spring is the toughest time for me to bear, garden-wise. We usually get warm spells though March that encourages all the daffodils, jonquils and tulips to bloom just in time to be crushed under the late Spring snows. Last year everything budded out so early only to be killed by a late freeze, leaving us with no pretty trees or lilacs in bloom that Spring. Needless to say, I was heart-broken. But for me, hope is always eternal and I'm optimistic this will be one of those years where we really do have a beautiful Spring. It's been cold enough that the green shoots are just now appearing in the beds and the trees aren't really budding yet so maybe, just maybe, my flowers, trees and bushes will put on a glorious show come April. I really, really hope so.

This has turned out to be a difficult month for us. Eric's father passed away March 12th and his funeral service was last Tuesday. He had been ailing as the effects of his emphysema were finally catching up with him. He managed quite well for many years with oxygen but the last year really took its toll. He passed away at home early in the morning while napping in his favorite chair. We are all thankful that he went so gently and that he is no longer suffering. However, it goes without saying that he will be greatly missed. He was a really terrific father-in-law to me, I couldn't have asked for a better one.

March projects

2010-03-07T18:58:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post with my projects for March.

First up, my latest Saturday Sampler block. I've managed to get a part of it cut and ready to go but still need to cut the rest of my fabric pieces. This block's finished size is quite large-16"!

Next up, the project that will be taking up most of my time this month is the wedding ring quilt that I am making for our niece as a wedding gift. I'm using an interfacing method by Quiltsmart for the arcs so that there is no curved piecing involved. Frankly, I'm not all that sure that I'll get the top finished this month since I decided to make the queen-sized version but I'll try! Why I couldn't have been content to make the throw-sized version I have no idea but sometimes insanity gets the best of me.

I spent most of my time yesterday cutting my strips for the arcs. I have to confess that cutting is my least favorite part so I'm happy that I've accomplished this much already.

Spotted, the first harbinger of Spring: tiny little yellow early crocus blooming in my front yard!

February finishes

2010-02-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, I swear that yesterday was February 1st! Where did the month go and how did it slip by so fast? I didn't get to spend quite as much time as I would have liked to this month working on projects but I did manage to complete all but one of my finishes. The only one that didn't make it was my Valentine wall-hanging and no worries on that one now that I have nearly a year to get that one done!

All righty, on to the good stuff. I'm all caught up on my Saturday Sampler blocks. Yay! I had six kits in all to do and here they are. I'm a big fan of triangles on a roll and they came in handy with these blocks. By the time I was ready to assemble the blocks, I almost didn't care if my points were matching up anymore, I just wanted to get them done. The last kit turned out to be 36" strips that needed to pieced together which was a huge respite after completing the other ones. The strip will eventually be appliqued with leaves and acorns.

Last but not least are my two final heirloom blocks. Now that all of my blocks are done, I can't wait to get the quilt assembled!

Doing the happy dance!

2010-02-15T17:45:00.000-08:00

After years of putting up with a phone line that would randomly go dead for no reason at all, sometimes for days at a time, and static so terrible that I could hardly hear the person on the other end (especially annoying because I'm hearing impaired), the phone service guy finally located the source of the problem and fixed it today. Now I don't have to worry whether or not the DSL line is going to be working long enough for me to be able to log on and post on here!

I can't tell you how annoying this problem has been, and it didn't help that the phone was always working the previous times a technician was called out. All I can say is that I'm so glad the issue has been resolved and I can now make phone calls again without worrying that I won't be able to hear the person on the other end because the static will start up again and drown him or her out.

February projects

2010-02-07T14:04:00.001-08:00

Oops, here it is the 7th already and I just realized that despite taking pictures of my projects at the beginning of the month, I haven't posted them yet. The Rocky Mountain Sewing Expo is this weekend and I've been there both Friday and Saturday. I'll write more about that later in a separate post.

OK! The projects that I want to get finished this month! First, a little background on this one. The Great American Quilt Factory is a fabulous quilt shop here in Denver that does a Saturday Sampler program every year. Basically, the idea is that you collect a kit to make a block the first Saturday of each month. You take the completed block to the meeting the following month and you get the next month's block kit for free and on it goes. If you miss the meeting, you have to buy the kit, make the block, take it to the next meeting and you are back on track. When I did Saturday Sampler previously, I had perfect attendance. This time, not so much! For various reasons, I've missed three months in a row now, so I have those basic kits plus the the enhancement block kits (that are always paid for) to construct. Eventually, those blocks will be assembled to create this enhanced quilt called Pine Lodge:

Here are my kits, six blocks total to complete:

Next up are my final two blocks for my Heirloom Sampler quilt. I am meeting with my instructor at the very end of this month to start assembling the quilt top and I can't wait to see it completed.

Last, but not least is my Valentine wall hanging that I started during the Valentine Sewing Party. I spent the whole day after the party trying to come up with pieced panels that I liked to go on the top and bottom of this block and nearly drove myself nuts in the process. I learned some really good lessons that day, one being to just step away and go do something else for a while. If I had done that, I think I would have saved myself a lot of frustration when it just wasn't looking like I wanted it to. The other lesson I learned was not to hack up a fat quarter if that's all you have of that fabric! The store has none of that fabric left and I'll have to pick apart the blocks that didn't work to salvage the pieces that I need for the fabric combination that I eventually settled on. Of course, only after the fact, did I remember a tip that I had read a while back that if your fabric is limited, copy it on a color printer and use the printed paper to make block mock-ups to decide on your final design.

January finishes

2010-01-31T21:57:00.001-08:00

The end of the month really snuck up on me! It was one of those weeks where after work I just came home every night and collapsed and yesterday was full of must-run errands so I finally made it into my sewing room today. I managed to bang out all five of my blocks for my heirloom sampler quilt that I needed to finish for this month and can't quite believe that I actually got them all done! They still need to be washed to get rid of the markings and trimmed but at least the hard part is done.

On this block, I finished the stitching on the crazy-quilt center, then stitched on the lace frame and cut away the fabric behind the lace.

This one had almost been finished in class, I just needed to stitch open the cathedral windows in the center and then add the decorative stitching to each side of the center panel.

On this one, I needed to stitch the pink waterfall panels onto the block on each side of the embroidered center. I almost wish that I could re-do the waterfalls as the stitching on the lace isn't the greatest. I usually do much better than that!

On this, I did the sharks teeth on the sides. They look relatively simple to do, and they are, but jeez, they take a lot of time to do!

On this one, I did the bias-shaping in the center then stitched it down. For some reason, I could not get my bias pieces to work in class but when I cut new ones tonight, they did what they were supposed to do without any problems at all.

Sewing party- 2

2010-01-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ok! My first block is finished! This will be the center of my hanging and I am going to piece together two heart blocks to go above and below this one. I haven't actually done the embroidery yet as that will be done when I am quilting the hanging, so for now the stitch-out that I did last night will stand in for it.

Thank you all for the lovely comments so far! My hubby just informed me that my best friend who lives out of state just called and has a fabric emergency that she wants my help with so as soon as I've finished talking with her, I am going to take a break and see what you all have been working on!

Meanwhile, Lorelai is doing what she does best: napping.

Sewing party- 1

2010-01-23T11:28:00.001-08:00

Welcome to my sewing room! Here it is, all ready to go!

Lorelai is in her little bed! She loves to be in here with me and is allowed if she stays in her bed or on the window sill. She knows she has to leave the room if she doesn't and she hates that, so she's really well-behaved.

Here's what I am going to be working on. I recently got this embroidery design and will build a wall-hanging around it. I don't have any specific pattern but will be winging it, using some different block patterns that I've picked out.

Here are my fabrics that I just picked out at the quilt shop an hour ago:

Ok, I'm ready to get started!

Aaa-Choo!

2010-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the cold season finally caught up with us and hubby brought home a real doozy! Just as he was getting over his, I came down with mine. There's nothing like the feeling that your entire being is comprised of one big sneezy nose! I ended up staying home from work Tuesday and Wednesday feeling like death warmed over and went back to work today feeling much better.

I'm really looking forward to the Valentine Sewing Party on Saturday! Unfortunately, being sick this week meant that I couldn't get to the quilt shop last night when they were open until 8 to pick out fabric for my project so now I have to wait until 10 am when they open on Saturday. Sigh... I really wanted to be ahead of the curve on this one but that was not to be. The good news is that my sewing room is ready for business again! I'll take pictures before I start on my party project as it won't look so pristine once that gets underway!

I'm drooling

2010-01-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Esther and I'm a shoeholic. And today I fell off the wagon yet again. When I first saw these shoes the other day my heart literally stopped, and I'm not joking here, I could actually feel it lurching about inside my chest. Remember the Charming Girls tag a couple of months ago that had you pick the pair of shoes that described you the best? Well, these shoes are totally me. And tonight when I cruised by Zappos yet again to gaze upon them with utter adoration, I discovered that there was only one pair left in my size and before I knew it, they had leaped into the shopping cart and I was whisking them through the check-out as fast as I could type in my password.

Now I'm left to count the very hours, minutes and seconds of each day until they arrive and I can strap my feet into them and go forth to conquer the world. Sigh... Well, that and coming up with a reasonable explaination for hubby as to why I absolutely need yet another pair of black shoes.

Snowbound by Bunny Hill

2010-01-12T21:41:00.001-08:00

I've decided to do Anne Sutton's delightful new block of the month quilt, Snowbound. Now that my stash is organized, I have just the fabric in mind for it. I just hope that I have enough!

I haven't done much applique but would like to give it a go so I am going to do that particular version rather than the embroidered one.

New Year's Resolution #1

2010-01-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

One of my resolutions for this year is to loose the weight that I've gained over the last year or so before our niece's wedding in May. No Auntie Pudgy Pants in those wedding pictures! No siree!

Frustrated!

2010-01-12T20:43:00.001-08:00

I'm beginning to wonder if my sewing room will ever be done! My hubby is on call this month and had to cover a noon-midnight shift on Sunday so I seized the time to work some more on the Great Reorganization of 2009/10. I worked from 11 am to 11 pm (when I finally made myself stop to go to bed) with just a short break for dinner and it's still not finished! I did get an enormous amount done, though, and the end really is in sight now. I just need to run to JoAnn this weekend and pick up some thread boxes and other storage items for the remaining odds and ends. As frustrating as this has been at times, I'm feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment in tackling a job that I have put off for far too long.

I do have a bone to pick, however! How I wish that there was one standard way to fold fat quarters instead of all the umpteen different ways that the quilt shops have of doing them. Some like to fold them up very small into bulky squares that take up a lot of room. I have fat quarter boxes that I really like and had to iron out just about every FQ and refold them so that they were larger and thinner in order to get them all in. Needless to say, that took much more time than I would have liked! My new iron has been getting a very good workout and it's been aces in terms of performance. No pesky auto shutoff either!

January project

2010-01-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

With December being so busy and my getting a bee in my bonnet to reorganize my sewing room, I didn't get anywhere near my posted project for December so it's playing an encore this month. These are blocks that are in various stages of completion for a heirloom sampler quilt. It's time to "git 'em done!"

Happy New Year!

2010-01-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Clock tower-downtown Denver

New Year's Eve

Photo by Carl Gehring

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's almost a month to the day since I posted! December turned out to be a very busy month for me and I was "off the grid" until this week and now I am playing catch up. I was just over on Joan's blog, Ouvrages d'une Acadienne, and she mentioned that she was inspired by other bloggers to get her sewing room organized as they were doing. There must be something in the air because I've spent the last week doing the same thing! My room isn't quite finished yet, but I can say that the light is shining at the end of that tunnel. I'm a notorious fabric addict (I don't call it woven crack for nothing!) and my fabric collection was wildly out of control. Half the time I had no idea where something was but only that I could remember buying it. Something had to be done! As soon as I'm finished, I'll post pictures of my reorganized sewing room. I am very happy with the results so far and wish that I had done this a lot sooner. Being a member of Charming Girls has really played a part as the more I worked on projects, the more I became frustrated by the disorganized state of my work area. I also discovered that I have amassed a number of quilt kits and patterns/fabric the past couple of years and have vowed that 2010 is the year that I get them done!

SECRET SANTA!

This is the lovely Secret Santa gift that I received from Carol of Carol's Craft Creations! Isn't it just lovey? I especially adore the embroidery and since red is my most favorite color, it's a real hit with me! Carol had posted a picture of the embroidery when she was working on it and when I saw it, I was so hoping that she was my secret Santa because I loved it so much. And isn't that hanger just too cool? Carol also made me a wonderful pin cushion that is now at home on my ironing board as it is the perfect size and shape to nestle up next to my iron and unlike other pin cushions, it does not roll all over the place. As soon as I finish up my reorganization project, I'll include a picture of it.

A close-up of the wonderful embroidery of Ohio Star blocks hanging on a tree:

I popped over to Peggy's blog, Bienvenue Chez Moi, and discovered that my Secret Santa has finally arrived at her home. Peggy lives in Ireland so it took a while to make its way to her. I was pleased to see that it made it safe and sound!

This is the candle mat that I made for her using Mary Engelbreit fabric that I had in my stash. I did the embroidery with my machine and adjusted the colors to coordinate with the fabric. I think by now it's no secret that I love embroidery and I pretty much try to work it in one way or another on my projects.

I also made Peggy this free-standing lace snowflake ornament with my machine. You stitch it out on water soluble stabilizer and then rinse it way when it's done and voila, you have lace!

Brrrr... it's cold!

2009-12-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Jack Frost is definitely nipping at our heels around here! As I write this, the temps outside are a balmy -4 degrees and it has been snowing just enough to make everything slippery as all get out. I'm definitely walking to the bus stop very carefully these days! Thank goodness for my Lands End down commuter coat. It keeps me toasty warm and nothing (and I do mean nothing) gets through it, not even that nasty little wind we had this morning. Now, if only I can convince the bus driver that not all of us enjoy a sauna experience on our way to work! It never fails to amaze me that no matter how cold it gets, the driver is nearly always wearing a short-sleeved shirt and, of course, has the heater going full blast. I have to shuck my coat off as soon as I get on the bus or else I'd have heat stroke and not be so daisy fresh anymore by the time I got to my stop downtown.

This past weekend was a very busy one! I attended a two-day machine embroidery event Friday and Saturday and had a wonderful time. It was very well attended and very informative. The event was hosted by Steve Wilson and Laura Winzeler who are the founders of Anita Goodesign, a company that creates fabulous embroidery designs for both home and commercial embroidery machines. Each table had three different Brother machines, two were embroidery/sewing machine models and one was a six-needle commercial model. We worked on several projects in teams of three, trading off on the machines so that we all got a chance to use them. This was the first time that I had worked with Brother machines, and I have to say I really was impressed with them (and this is no small praise coming from a dedicated Viking gal like me.) The six-needle was quite slick and very fast, now I want one! I took pictures of some of the many samples that Steve and Laura created which were hanging around the room and here are my favorites:

This is a tree skirt with embroidered snow globes. The really cool thing about this is that they used clear vinyl over the embroidery to create realistic looking globes.

Here are vintage-look tea towels. Laura worked on Steve for years to get him to digitize vintage designs as he didn't think anyone would want them. I'm glad that she finally got him to change his mind because I bought several of them.

Another vintage concept that Laura convinced Steve to digitize were cutwork designs, and in the process, he innovated a way that makes doing cutwork a lot less painful. Rather than stitching out the design and then cutting out all the little areas with small scissors, you now stitch out an outline, cut away the fabric within the outline and then the machine stitches out the design the same way free-standing lace is done. Voila- perfect cutwork without all the tedious cutting!

Two of the quilts that they had there which I just loved were the Baltimore Albums. I ended up getting both of the design discs for these.

And last but not least, is this stunning piece. The center is created from embroidered "tiles" that were pieced together after they were stitched out. The borders are silk fabric and the effect was just elegant.

Yesterday I went off to the City and County Building to respond to my summons for jury duty. While I did get called as part of a pool, I didn't make it into the jury box so that was it for this time. It's a funny thing, I've been summoned for jury duty like clockwork about every two years since I moved up from Arizona 23 years ago, starting with my first one not long after I got here. The big guy never gets called. Sometimes I really have to wonder about that.

December project

2009-12-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of sewing to do for Christmas, so I only have one project for this month, finishing the blocks for my heirloom sampler quilt. The quilt has nine blocks in all and I've only gotten two of them completely done! The picture below has a sampling of the rest of my blocks that are in various stages of completion. I really do need to get them finished as I will be meeting with my instuctor in January to put the top together.

Meanwhile, look what just arrived recently! I celebrated my 10-year anniversary with the firm that I work for last month and was given a $400 American Express gift card. I used it to get this iron and a Big Board which will hopefully be arriving in the next week or two. Meanwhile, I set up the new iron and took it out for a spin. Ohh, I love it! I actually had the first version of this iron that Rowenta put out a few years ago and while it is a terrific iron, this one has all the things that I wished it had, including a tank that can be filled at any time. The best part of these irons is that there is no auto-shut off! There aren't enough words to express how much I hate that feature on irons! I gave my old iron to a very good friend and now she's enjoying ironing nirvana, too.

This 'n that...

2009-11-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's really hard to believe that November is nearly over! This month went by at the blink of an eye, it seems. It was a busy one, especially at work, as I learned the ropes of new responsibilities that have come my way.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The big guy and I headed up to his parent's house for dinner and enjoyed visiting with family that we haven't seen in a while. Our niece is getting married in May and had her wedding gown that she had just bought to show us. It's lovely and she looks so beautiful in it! Naturally, she's very excited and really looking forward the big day.

I had very little time to get any where near my sewing room this month. I did manage to get to my heirloom instructor for a lesson, though. I am working on a nine-block sampler quilt with each lesson covering a block featuring machine embroidery combined with a heirloom sewing technique. I decided to change the colors a little to reflect my love of the 1930's pastels and I am really happy with the results. Most of the blocks still need finishing (I'll do those as a December finish for Charming Girls), but here are two that I have completed:

I have to admit that this one is my especial favorite, I just love the embroidered organza in the center:

Meanwhile, I did try to get underway with my Half-Pint but didn't get very far!

Here are my fabrics:

And here is the sum total of the blocks that I've managed to piece together thus far! As you can see, not very many at all!

Here is a close-up:

This is the first time that I've worked with such tiny patches and I have to say that I found them to be a wee bit of a challenge. Hopefully I will have time after the new year to work on my Half-Pint and get her finished. In retrospect, joining the Quilt-Along probably wasn't the greatest idea as my sewing time tends to be so sporadic depending on what's going on. I really wish that I could spend far more time in my sewing room than I am able to right now with a full-time job but that's just the way it is. Mind you, I'm not complaining, in today's economy I'm very grateful to have my job and I am lucky in that I have a great place to work along with really terrific co-workers.

Did anyone do some Black Friday shopping? I went to JoAnn at 7am (they opened at 6) and spent nearly two hours waiting to get my fabric cut! They had the Blizzard fleece on sale for $2.99/yard (the reason I was there) and there were people in the cutting line with one to two carts piled sky-high with bolts of the stuff. What one does with all that fleece I have no idea! Luckily for me, the cutting area is right next to the Viking center where I got my sewing machine, so I could hang out there while waiting for my number to be called. The drawback to that, though, was finding a specialty presser foot that I just couldn't live without. I'm such a presser foot junkie: if they make it, I'll buy it! At any rate, I now have all the materials that I need to get started on my Christmas gifts and my project for the Secret Santa swap. Now it's time to get sewing!

Tag!

2009-11-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

Kelly has the latest tag up for the Charming Girls Club. Being close to Thanksgiving, she asks that we name some of the things that we are grateful for and to share another craft that we enjoy doing.

Without further ado, these are the things that I am grateful for in no particular order:

Family and friends

My wonderful husband and our kitties

The beauty of the earth

Sunrises and sunsets

Roses

That I celebrated another birthday yesterday

Snow

All the flowering trees in the spring

Leaves turning on trees during the fall

A job that I like

That I have a roof over my head and food to eat

Fabric

Books

The internet which makes Charming Girls possible!

Another craft that I really enjoy when I'm not muttering curses as I pick back stitches to fix mistakes is knitting, especially lace patterns. I am currently working on an afghan for my mom which has been keeping me busy and out of my sewing room lately. I took this picture of it the other night, I've since added more repeats to it. As you can see, Bette is my quality control inspector!

Finished!

2009-11-01T21:58:00.001-08:00

Finally! My mini quilt is finished and ready to go off to its new home tomorrow. Hopefully its recipient will think that it was worth the wait as it will be a little tardy in getting to her. I'm really happy with how it turned out and had such fun creating it.

Meanwhile, look what I got in the mail last week! Cora made this darling wallhanging for me and I just love it. I've always liked pine trees the best and this quilt especially reminds me of the pines that surround the campus at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where I went to school. I have so many happy memories of NAU and this really brings them back. I'm also going to enjoy having this quilt as part of my winter decor.

Well, now that the mini quilt is done, it's time to get cracking on my Half-Pint! I've got quite a bit of catching up to do on that one.

October finish

2009-10-31T21:31:00.001-07:00

Well, I managed to finish one thing this month, my yo-yo mouse. He seems a rather brave little critter, too, as he's been spotted hanging out with some of the cats.

First, he was lounging about with Lorelai:

Later on he found a comfy resting place on Bette:

We get snow

2009-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

As promised, we had quite a bit of snow Wednesday and Thursday. This is our front yard midway through the storm.

Friday morning I was heading down the stairs when I saw these icicles hanging outside the stairwell window. The blue wall is our neighbor's house (yes, our houses are that close together.)

Today was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and bordering on warm. If it weren't for the piles of melting snow everywhere, I would have thought that the storm had been a figment of my imagination!

Fall, where art thou?

2009-10-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Just checked the weather forecast and this is what we have in store for us:

SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES WILL DEVELOP WEDNESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 18 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE...WITH UP TO 24 INCHES IN THE DENVER AREA. NORTH WINDS AT15 TO 30 MPH WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

Now, as I've said before, I love Fall. Next to Spring, it's my most favorite season. The days are just that right degree of warm with a crisp little hint of cool underlying it, the nights are chilly enough so that I get a good night's sleep burrowed under blankets and all of the trees are turning such pretty colors including my favorite, the Ash with its opalescent mixture of reds and golds. I can usually count on spending October out in my yard, cleaning it up and putting in the rosebushes that are still in pots. This year? Not so much. We've already had a light snowfall or two earlier in the month and I've spent more than one night hauling in my potted rosebushes onto our utility porch until it got warm enough this past Saturday to get them in the ground. Now it looks like a major dumping of snow is on its way. Fall, it would seem, has totally passed us by this year.

Making progress!

2009-10-25T21:18:00.001-07:00

I got all my blocks stitched together last night but decided that I didn't like the brown fabric that I had selected for the border and binding. It just "died" when I held it up next to the panel. I made a run to one of the quilt shops that was open today and picked out a raspberry shade that looked like it would work. But rats, when I put it on the top and bottom, it was just too strong. After noodling around with the fabrics a little, I think I've come up with a good solution: cut down the raspberry strips to leave a narrow 1/4" border for just a pop of color when a 1/2" binding of the brown fabric is applied (you can sort of see the pinned mock-up at the top of the panel.) The border just won't be as wide as originally called for but I think the end result will be even better.

In the meantime, I hauled out the embroidery unit for my machine and stitched out the label. This is my first time creating a label with the embroidery software and while I generally happy with it, I can already see things about the layout that could be improved. Everything's a learning experience!

I had hoped to get the quilt finished this weekend but all the angst over the border killed that plan. So now I'm shooting to have it in the mail by Thursday. While I'm toiling away, Cary will no doubt be taking up his usual spot on the big guy's recliner:

Mini quilt swap

2009-10-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

I got a bit of a late start on my mini quilt for the exchange. The first pattern that I choose just wasn't working out so I switched to a different one a couple of weeks ago. This one is called Bumblebee Lane and is from a book by the same name that I picked up while I was in Wisconsin. Each log cabin block has an embroidered center and now that I've finished those, it's on to the piecing! Here's a close-up of one of the centers:

And here is a closer look at one of the finished blocks:

There will be nine blocks in all, arranged in rows of three each. I'm really please with how it's coming together and can't wait to see it finished and ready to go off to its new home!

Camp Cotton

2009-10-07T21:52:00.001-07:00

Last month I attended Betty Cotton's Cotton Theory camp in Osseo, Wisconsin. It was one of the most intense experiences that I have ever had! Five full days of sewing and learning new techniques left me worn out! Betty's quilt as you go method produces very unique quilts and I can't wait to put what I learned to good use and get some UFO's done.

This was my first time ever in Wisconsin and I loved it. It's truly beautiful and the people were wonderful. My only regret is that I had very little time to see the surrounding area. My first words to the big guy when I got home were that we have to make a vacation trip back there.

October project

2009-10-07T21:16:00.001-07:00

I'm bumping my yo-yo animals that I didn't get done last month for this month's project. I have so much non-quilting sewing to get done by the end of the month and my mini quilt to complete for the swap, that this is about all I can hope to get completed. Once I get all these various projects out of the way, I can go full steam ahead on actual quilt projects next month! I'm really looking forward to settling into my sewing room as winter approaches and getting back into my sewing groove.

September finishes

2009-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sliding in under the wire tonight posting my finishes. I actually got them done before I left for quilt camp on the 21st but haven't had time to post them until tonight. Camp was a lot of fun but exhausting!

OK, here they are. First up is the clothespin bag:

Next is the crazy quilt padded topper for my basket lid. It turned out way better than I had expected it to:

Here is a close-up:

I didn't get a chance to work on my yo-yo animals at all so they'll have to wait another month to get finished!

Tag!

2009-09-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Kelly over at Charming Chatter has posted September's tag questions for the Charming Girls Club. Without further ado, here are my answers:

1) When I look at the darling sample that Kelly is making for our upcoming Quilt-Along, "Half-pint" is what comes to my mind. For some reason, the quilt with its tiny nine-patches and half-square triangles, makes me think of Little House on the Prairie and Pa's nickname for Laura was Half-pint. However, when I think of actually making those tiny little half-square triangles, "Lilliputian Nightmare" also comes to mind, but somehow, I don't think that's the sort of name Kelly is looking for!

2) E- enthusiastic about starting new projects and learning new skills

S- self-reliant, I've always been a pretty independent kind of gal

T- traveler, nothing thrills me more than getting on a plane and going somewhere

H- "How hard can it be?" A thought process that gets me into trouble project-wise more often than not...

E- earrings! Let's just say that I have earrings the way Imelda Marcos had shoes

R- reader, I was one of those kids who always had her nose stuck in a book and it still is

Fall is almost here!

2009-09-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Anybody who knows me well knows that I don't like hot weather very much (the main reason why I no longer live in Southern Arizona) and that Summer is a season I can happily skip past altogether. As a consequence, I pretty much live for that first hint of Fall with its promise of cooler weather and this past weekend was it. I'm in heaven! It's time to put away the sandals and break out the tights and all my lovely shoes to go with them! (Yes, I'm a shoe addict.)

Aren't those flowers pictured above pretty? The big guy sent them to me at work last Friday "just because." Labor Day weekend had pretty much been a bust: It was hot and I had a miserable sinus infection to contend with that left me feeling pretty cruddy for the rest of the week. He must of thought I really needed a day brightener and it worked. He even made sure that they used Fall colors, too!

September projects

2009-09-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Since I am going to be going to quilt camp for a week at the end of the month and my time for getting projects finished is limited, I looked around my sewing room for small projects in need of finishing and came up with these:

Crazy quilt padded basket top:

Clothespin bag:

Yo-yo stuffed animals:

Thanks to Kelly, these UFOs will finally get done! The clothespin bag is another gift that I'll finally be able to give once it's finished. It's for a friend who has never had a dryer, she likes to go the old-fashioned route when drying her laundry!

Here we go!

2009-09-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, here goes my first post! I never in a million years ever thought that I'd be starting a blog but after I joined the Charming Girls Club, it just made sense. I always have some sort of project going on and it will be nice to share them with other girls who also feel the need to create!

Whew! I really slid under the wire with my August finishes. My patriotic banner is the first quilt that I've pieced, quilted and bound and I was feverishly sewing the binding on the back up to the very last minute. I had no idea it would take me so long! Although I've sewn for a long time, I'm relatively new to quilting. I've got some finished tops that I've pieced, but up to now, taking that final plunge and getting them sandwiched and quilted was something that I've really kind of freaked out over. I've finally gotten myself over that hump! Someday I'll be brave enough to drop the dogs and do free motion quilting. I have no excuse not to learn how, the local quilt shop that is my home away from home is Harriet's Treadle Arts, owned by Harriet Hargrave who pretty much pioneered the art of quilting on home sewing machines. Harriet has a whole bunch of classes that are on my wishlist to take.

I noticed in the comments for our August finishes that some of you are wondering if there's a pattern for one of the tote bags that I made. And the answer is yes! The tote in question is the one on the left:

I made it using a Recipe For Friendship charm pack and the Charming Totes 4 pattern from Whistlepig Creek Productions. The pattern has three variations and all are designed to utilize charm packs. A terrific friend made me a different variation in fall colors for my birthday last year and I liked the tote so much (it is a really nice size, approx. 14 x 14 inches) that I decided to make a different version for each season. This particular one is my summer one. I already have my charms and pattern picked out for my winter version and will probably make that one in the next month or so. The other tote bag was a long overdue gift for my friend, Holly, who just adores polka dots. I gave it to her today and got a big hug in return. She really loves it!

Last but not least, here's a picture of the lovely tea towel that Katy made me for the exchange. Since Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays, I just adore it! The print on the band has a cute vintage look to it which I also really like. Mr. Duck is proud to show it off for us:

Katy also included a delicious recipe for Cookie Salad which I'll try over Labor Day weekend. I have a feeling that it will be a huge hit with the big guy (aka as my hubby) who has never met a dessert he didn't like.

Here's the towel that I made for Katy:

Let me just say that those Clover yo-yo makers are the best invention ever!